A Dark Night (Book One of The Grandor Descendant series)

by Bell Stoires

  Chapter 26- A Parting Of The Ways

  On returning home, Cambridge did not stop to talk to any of the other coven members but jumped off the veranda and sat by Larissa’s grave.

  “It will be light soon,” Clyde said to no one in particular.

  “I will make sure he comes inside,” she said, jumping off the veranda also and joining Cambridge by Larissa’s grave.

  Thomas followed shortly after her and Clyde moved over to the veranda, before shaking his head and moving upstairs to his room, so that it was only Ragon and Ari left. The moment Ari’s eyes fell on Ragon, the mounting fear she had tried to supress, swept back over her.

  “Why would the Ancients want my parents dead?” asked Ari.

  Ragon looked down at his feet.

  “If I only knew who they were… maybe we could work out why the Ancients want me dead too,” said Ari.

  Almost as soon as she spoke, she saw a strange look in Ragon’s eyes, quickly followed by him looking down at his feet.

  “What?” she asked.

  “There is something I haven’t told you,” said Ragon.

  Ari’s heart churned and she felt it flutter in her chest. What hadn’t he told her?

  “I know who your parents were,” he said slowly.

  “What?” Ari asked.

  Ragon did not respond but turned around and began walking towards his library. Ari watched, her mouth open, and then followed silently behind him.

  When they had traversed the winding staircase that led to Ragon’s desk, Ragon moved over to the large book shelf, retrieved something and handed it silently to Ari. Ari reached out and took the dark brown folder, opening it quickly. The first thing she saw was the coroner reports of the girls. She flipped past them quickly, and soon saw a family tree. For a moment her eyes widened, but then something fell out of the folder and she reached down to pick it up. It was an old and torn newspaper article. She looked down to see the faded image of a man with his hands around his a woman, in whose arms there was a baby girl.

  “After all these years and everything you’ve suffered… I wanted to tell you; I was going to but I didn’t want to cause you any more pain,” said Ragon.

  Ari, who had become engrossed by the newspaper clipping, didn’t hear him.

  “Police no closer to finding missing couple and child,” she read in a shaking voice. “It has been almost 2 weeks since the mysterious disappearance of Brisbane couple, George and Bridget Hutton and their 2 year old daughter, Sarah.”

  After that Ari read in her head, no longer wanting to share her past with Ragon:

  ‘Friends of the family say that the Hutton’s were a quiet, well liked and respected members of the community of Bardon. Despite the absence of any forensic evidence, Police continue to label their disappearance as suspicious. Forensic officers surveying the family home, say that there were no signs of their intending to leave and there has been no activity on the couple’s financial accounts, or on their passports. While police state that they remain hopeful, the daily searches of the Bardon state forest have now been reduced to every three days. The community is urged that if they have any knowledge concerning the whereabouts of the Hutton family or anything pertaining to the case, that they should contact Crime Stoppers or phone the police directly.’

  Ragon did not speak but hung his head. Hesitantly he inched towards Ari, kneeling down on the floor besides where she sat at his desk. Her breathing had become ragged, wether that was from her injuries or the news of finding out her parents were, she wasn’t sure. Her stomach was knotted and tense, and for one horrible moment it felt as if she could feel the knife Sameth had stabbed her with, prising her flesh apart again.

  “George and Bridget Hutton,” she said accusatorily. “I saw those names etched on a stone casket in your family mausoleum.”

  Ragon’s eyes widened and he whispered, “I should have told you.”

  “I won’t ever keep anything from you again,” Ariana said, mimicking Ragon’s words from a few weeks ago. “That’s what you promised me after I found out that Kiara had killed my parents. And I actually believed you!”

  “I was going to tell you but you were so happy for a while, and then everything with Sameth happened and…” he tried to explain lamely.

  “You could have found a moment to pull me aside and tell me that my parents were buried next to yours,” she said, her eyes no longer tearful but angry. “You could have found a second to mention that my real name was Sarah.”

  Though she had been able to forgive Ragon for not telling her that Kiara had killed her parents- this was a whole different thing. She had understood his reasoning for keeping this part of her past from her; he had felt responsible. But they had found out over a month ago, during the Halloween Party, that Kiara had killed her parents because she was told to. There was no reason for Ragon to feel guilty any longer; so why hadn’t he told her the truth? She stared up at him, desperate for an answer that would make all her pain go away. After a few passing seconds, when she realised that no explanation would come, she got up from the chair, taking the newspaper article with her as she descended the stairs.

  Though she had seen the family tree that Ragon had begun to construct, along with the coroner files of the other girls that had been killed, neither of these things mattered right now. If she was being truthful with herself, all of her anger was being fuelled by an even greater sadness, one which had nothing to do with her parents and everything to do with the loss of Larissa. This realisation swept over Ari and she found herself falter on the last step.

  Feet dragging against the floor, Ari moved to the door and pushed it open, leaving the library and Ragon behind her. Part of her wanted to be alone but the other part of her wanted to race back to the library and be with Ragon. But Ragon had kept all of this from her. The most annoying part of all of this was that, it wasn’t just his world, it was hers now too and it wasn’t fair for him to try to shut her out of it. She had almost made it to her bedroom, when there was a knock at the front door. She smiled, thinking that it must be Ryder and Patrick returned from the Elder’s summons. Stretching out a hand, she made to open it but someone blurred past her and shoved her back, causing her to slam into the wall.

  “What the hell?” she said, her voice breaking with shock, as she stared back at Clyde’s livid face.

  “Shh,” he said, holding a finger to his mouth, while using his other hand to pin Ari to the wall.

  Ari’s face was confused but she remained still, until Clyde eased the door open, letting it swing open by itself.

  “Err… message for Ragon Young,” said young girl, looking around for who had opened the door.

  Remaining hidden behind the door, Clyde stretched out his hand and waited for the girl to drop the envelope into it.

  “Thanks,” said Clyde, slamming the door in the girl’s face.

  For a moment Clyde did not move; the envelope remained in his left hand, while his other was across Ari’s chest, still pinning her to the wall.

  “Um,” said Ari, looking down at Clyde’s arm. “Are you going to move your hand?”

  Still Clyde did not move and Ari raised her eyebrows saying, “Well?”

  “I’m thinking,” Clyde responded, turning to smile at her.

  Ariana shook her head and pushed him away.

  “Who was that?” asked Ragon, skidding to a halt as he stared from Clyde to Ari.

  “Messenger,” said Clyde, handing Ragon the envelope.

  Hesitating for only a moment, Ragon took the envelope and tore it open. The moment his eyes met the small cursive print on the page, his face dropped.

  “Jesus,” he said, looking protectively at Ari, before seeing Cambridge and Sandra climbing back up the veranda and into the house, the rising sun lighting their path.

  Ragon waited until Sandra and Cambridge had moved over and then read out loud:

  Ragon’s Coven

  Please join us to discuss the fledgling Ryder no later than 7pm tonight.r />
  Yours eternally,

  William and Nikolas

  “What does that mean… to discuss the fledgling Ryder,” asked Ari, moving over to Ragon and tearing the letter out of his hand.

  No one answered her; apparently they were just as mystified about the letter’s meaning as she was.

  “So what are we going to do?”

  “The sun has just risen,” said Clyde, looking at the filtered rays that had managed to transverse the large curtains in the living room. “And the Elder’s note said to meet them no later than 7pm. All we can do is wait; when it gets dark we’ll go to Nikolas and William’s estate and find out what this is all about.”

  Ari sighed. It was terrifying to contemplate that Ryder was being held by the Elders. What was worse, she couldn’t think of any reason why they might want to discuss him; she knew they didn’t have a problem with homosexuality, and it wasn’t like Ryder had been causing trouble since he became a fledgling. Ari knew this because Ragon had said that Ryder hadn’t left the house since his turning. So what then did the Elders want to discuss?

  The worry about Ryder ate away at Ari, that and the newspaper article she had just read, which told her who her parents were. She found herself scanning the pantry, thinking to distract herself with food. The moment the squeaky door swung open, Crystal barked and raced from the couch and into the kitchen, her wet nose pressed against Ari’s leg as she eyed the biscuits Ari was holding.

  “We’ll share then,” said Ari, taking her bag of corn chips back to the couch where she and Crystal began eating them.

  “Ariana,” said Ragon.

  She didn’t respond but looked up expectantly; it was Ragon’s turn to do the talking.

  “I don’t expect you to forgive me,” he said. “But regardless of how you feel towards me, everything that I know, I want you to know also and for you to be safe.”

  Ari blinked dumbly at him. His eyes were lined and looked weary, painfully reminding her of how Larissa had looked after she had died. Instantly she felt guilty and had to try hard to remind herself why she was angry with Ragon in the first place. She watched as he produced the familiar dark brown folder and began pulling out several documents.

  “This is your family tree,” he said, holing up a piece of paper.

  At these words Ariana placed the packet of chips onto the table and inched closer to him, careful not to upset her surgery site. Reaching for the copy of her family tree, Ari saw that she was the root of it. Her eyes traced the unfamiliar names all connected to hers, until one name stopped her dead in her tracks.

  “Jamie?” she said, looking at the line that connected directly to hers, but which was crossed out, with a small d above it.

  “Your brother,” said Ragon, a sombre look on his face. “He died when he was two.”

  “But…” Ari said, looking at the small d in confusion, until she read the dates next to his name and realised what the d stood for- deceased.

  A wave of sadness overtook her. In front of her was a list of the family she had never known; of the brother who had died when he was baby and the parents who were killed by Kiara.

  “Why does it stop here?” she asked, pointing to the last name on the tree, having traced the lines up until she read the last entry, her great, great grandmother- Lady Geraldine Grand.

  “That’s as far back as I could trace your family line. After we went to the morgue and found out that all the girls who had been killed went to the same orphanage as you, I decided to trace your family line. But that is all that I could find; the rest of it is in the original record,” he replied.

  “And where’s the original record?” she asked.

  “In the UK,” he replied.

  “Let me see if I have got this straight?” Ariana said, drawing in a large gulp of air. “Twenty-two years ago, when I was a baby, a group of prehistoric vampires commissioned Kiara to kill my family but they didn’t know that I existed. Kiara, who was so in love with you that she didn’t want to risk the Ancients finding out that you had stopped her from killing me, kept the fact that she hadn’t managed to kill me a secret. But somehow they figured out that I do exist and that I went to Grace Valley Orphanage, and so burnt down the building, along with all the records and began killing every twenty-four year old who went there, hoping to kill me also?”

  “That pretty much sums it up,” said Ragon.

  “But why do the Ancients want me dead?” she asked.

  “Isn’t it obvious?” said Ragon, looking at her outstretched hand longingly, “because you can stop time.”

  “And see into the future,” she said indifferently.

  “Excuse me,” said Ragon. “Since when do you see into the future?”

  Ari turned away from her family tree to stare at him. She had entirely forgotten to tell him that she had seen Sameth attacking her, before it had happened.

  “The night that Sameth attacked me, when we were in the car, I had a premonition of it happening. I tried to get away, but he caught me and…”

  “So you can stop time, see into the future and god knows what else. That’s why I’ve been tracing your family tree. You can’t be the only one that can do all that. I have watched you your entire life; it’s not like you fell into a vat of toxic waste or got bitten by a radioactive spider. You’re different, and I thought that if we traced your heritage, we could find out if there were people related to you that were different too. But I don’t know what our next move is. When Kiara died, the last piece of puzzle died with her. So far every person I have investigated that is related to you, are already dead.”

  “But isn’t it obvious what we should do then?” asked Ari, looking at Ragon intently and mocking him by using the same perturbing tone.

  Ragon looked at her in confusion then after a moment, shook his head.

  “Go over to the UK and trace down my great, great, great, whatever grandmother’s family history,” she said. “If there is any chance that we can find answers in my family lineage, that’s where we should start.”

  Chapter 27- A Third Power

  For the rest of the day, Ari remained on the couch cuddled up next to Crystal, allowing the ibuprofen she had taken to whisk her into a painless stupor. She had not spoken to Ragon after their conversation about going to the UK, but had sat silently, finishing an entire bag of corn chips and allowing the salt-induced coma to take over. When Ari awoke she was laying down, her head rested in Ragon’s lap while the empty packet of chips had fallen to the floor. For a second she blinked in confusion, wondering why she was asleep on her couch, rather than curled up in her bed next to Ragon. Then the memories from the morning came crashing down on her and she sat bolt upright as her stomach turned.

  “Are you alright,” asked Ragon, reaching for her.

  “Fi…fine,” she stammered, catching her breath.

  As she moved from the couch she stretched, reaching her arms up over her head so that her aching muscles pulled tight. She was just about to move to her room, when someone appeared from the hallway.

  “So what’s the plan?” asked Clyde.

  “Ragon and I are going to the UK,” Ari blurted out.

  Clyde stared at her in disbelief but then said, “I meant about the Elders.”

  At the mention of the Elders, Ariana instantly felt guilty. She had entirely forgotten about the letter that they had sent Ragon, saying that they wanted to, ‘discuss the fledgling Ryder.’

  “You’re seriously going over to Britain?” said Clyde.

  At these words Ragon stood, moving protectively over to Ari.

  “What, you weren’t going to tell me?” said Clyde, now staring at Ariana.

  “I just told you,” she said, a little defensively.

  “What’s this about the UK?” asked Thomas, when he too had joined the group downstairs.

  No one answered at first and then Clyde said, “Apparently there isn’t enough danger for Ari here, so Ragon wants to see how long she will last in Britain.”

 
; “Hang on a minute,” Ari said defensively, “it’s my decision and I want to go.”

  “We find out that quite possibly the oldest vampires in the history of all vampires are after you, and you want to bring the meal to them?” said Clyde.

  “I thought the Ancients were in Latvia,” she said angrily.

  “Well they are… but there are a shit load of vamps in the UK,” Clyde argued. “It’s almost always overcast there!”

  Ari opened her mouth, about to argue, but then Ragon spoke.

  “Where’s Sandra?” he said, clearly wanting to change the subject.

  “She’s not doing too well,” Thomas said in a whisper, moving his eyes to the staircase that led towards their room.

  “Well we need to leave soon if we plan on being punctual for the Elders,” said Ragon, moving over to the veranda doors and pulling them open so that a light breeze swept through the house.

  The sun was setting and the first hint of Venus beginning to shine was apparent. Ari moved quickly to her room, desperate to splash cold water on her face and change out of her clothes.

  Ten minutes later and everyone was waiting out the front of the house.

  “So we are actually going?” asked Thomas.

  “You know we cannot ignore a summons; to do so would cause even greater trouble. Besides, the letter says that they want to talk to us about Ryder, we have no reason to fear prosecution” said Ragon.

  “The letter does not mention Ari; I don’t think we should bring her,” said Clyde.

  “But-” Ari began.

  “He’s right,” Ragon said, cutting her off, “it specifically invited my coven, you are not an immortal therefore you were not invited.”

  Though his words had not meant to be hurtful, they had stung her. She was just about to argue when Sandra and Cambridge walked into the room. It was clear from her puffy eyes and that Sandra had spent most of the night crying. Cambridge on the other hand, had a small back pack slung over one shoulder and walked purposefully towards the door.